Metallica's Manager: Indonesia is on My Watch List

KOMPAS.com - The rock group Metallica has made a living for the past 30 years growling about death in apocalyptic anthems like “The Four Horsemen“ and “Enter Sandman.“

Now, the heavy-metal pioneers are sleeping with one eye open for a different reason: Europe's financial crisis. Metallica's longtime manager, Cliff Burnstein, is accelerating the band's tour plans to avoid getting sucked into Europe's debt troubles.

With the gloom among investors spreading to richer countries such as France, Mr. Burnstein is worried that the euro will tank, making it harder for concert promoters in the 17 countries that use the currency to pay Metallica's fees.

Instead of playing Europe in 2013, as originally envisaged, Metallica will take a “European Summer Vacation“ next year, including gigs at Germany's Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring festivals in early June-where the top-grossing thrash band will play its chart-topping 1991 record known as “The Black Album“ in its entirety-before heading to Britain and Austria.

“Look, I'm not an economist, but I have a degree, so it helps,“ Mr. Burnstein said one afternoon, sitting in the back room of his midtown Manhattan office in jeans and a red Economist magazine T-shirt with “Think Responsibly“ printed on it. “You have to ask yourself, what's the best time to be doing what, when and where.“

The global music industry is already dogged by slumping record sales, exorbitant ticket prices and a limping economy. Now financial fears are making even the biggest rock 'n' roll rebels play it safe to protect their pocketbooks.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers, another group Mr. Burnstein manages with partner Peter Mensch, has also brought forward its European plans, having launched its first tour in four years this fall in Latin America despite complaints from Chili-starved U.S. fans. About 75% of the band's revenue comes from touring abroad, Mr. Burnstein said.

In the U.K., Anthony Addis, manager of British alternative-rockers Muse, says currency fluctuations have been especially tough for his non-U.S. clients, which tour Europe extensively and don't want to be paid in dollars.

Some rockers crash and burn-and then learn. Duff McKagan, the former bassist of Guns N' Roses, once unwittingly spent $40,000 on expensive suits in Italy because he didn't realize how much his purchases-then in Italian lira-were worth in dollars.

The lanky musician now sings a more sober tune: After taking business courses at Seattle University, he started writing about finance for Playboy (“Duffonomics“) and-most recently-launched a wealth-management firm for rockers: Meridian Rock Capital Management LP. Millionaire musicians, the 47-year-old told fans at New York City's Strand bookstore in October, are an “underserviced“ community.